Albania is mostly mountainous with coastal lowlands. The population is about 3.4 million (not including those who have emigrated) and contains a number of ethnic minorities. The largest of these minorities are the Romanies (“Gypsies”) and Greeks.

The Albanians have had a long, rich, and difficult history in the Balkan Peninsula. They are descendants of the Illyrians, an ancient Indo-European people whom Paul referred to in Romans 15:19 (“from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ’’). Over the centuries they have suffered under foreign rule as many other peoples, including Romans, Slavs, Serbs, and Turks, have invaded them.